When all this is over, we'll be a proper family, You'll see
by Ms-BlackHeart
Summary: Sirius Black/OFC - There was no need for amortentia to bring the two together, but it will take something stronger to keep them together when fate decides to intervene.
1. Chapter 1

"So will you?"

"Oh Black, hell will freeze over before I go to the Yule Ball with _you_ ", said the ebony-haired witch, casting him a dirty look over her shoulder as he ran to catch up with her.

"Surely you can't hate me that much."

"You underestimate me, Black."

"Lily's going with James…"

"And? Just because my best friend has taken leave of her senses, doesn't mean that I have to."

"Look, wait a minute." Sirius grabbed her hand and she spun around to face him, her dark-lidded eyes widened in surprise. "We might even have fun, you know. At least think about it?" His voice was softer then, and more serious.

Rowena sighed exasperatedly, extracting her hand from his.

"I'm sure you won't have any trouble finding another girl to go with. In fact, I see three willing victims over there" she said, pointing at a group of giggling girls as they passed, visibly eyeing-up the handsome boy beside her. "Now, I actually have a class to get to, if you don't mind."

* * *

"James says Sirius asked you to the Yule Ball…" Lily said to her friend, as she played around with her food. Rowena had noticed she hadn't eaten properly in days.

"Are you going to eat that, or just play with it?" Rowena asked sharply.

Lily's head shot up in surprise, "what…oh right" she said, realising her friend's meaning, "No, I don't want it". She pushed her plate away, still looking distracted.

"You and James are very cosy these days," Rowena said, disapproval clear in her voice.

"You're avoiding my question."

"You didn't ask a question. Black asked me to the Ball, as you know, and I said no, obviously."

"Did you even consider it?" Lily turned to give her friend a pointed stare.

"Consider it? No! Why on earth would I? James and Sirius are nothing more than arrogant bullies, who think they can get away with anything because they happen to be irritatingly handsome…"

"So you admit he's handsome?" Lily teased, her green eyes twinkling with mischief.

Rowena rolled her eyes.

"What does that matter? He's only wants to take me, because he knows I'm the only girl in Gryffindor, maybe even the whole school, who won't say yes. It's just a game to him, one that he won't win." A look of dislike mixed with determination came over Rowena's face. She wasn't one to back down.

"I think there might be a little more to it than that…" Lily said, cryptically.

Rowena merely raised her eyebrows in question.

"Well," Lily began, her voice dropping to a whisper, "James says Sirius would never admit it, but he reckons that he has had a bit of a thing for you for a while now…"

"That's old news, he's been pestering me for months"

"No but James thinks it's not just some game to him. He was hurt by your rejection"

Rowena snorted with derision, causing the group of third years in front of them to give her a look, "Hurt?" she laughed.

"Well I wouldn't be surprised! From what James had heard, it sounded like you were rather a bitch to him! Surely if you don't want to go with him, you could at least say so kindly!"

"Kindly?" Rowena repeated, looking at her friend as if she thought she were completely deluded.

"Yes! He does have feelings you know. James is actually rather sweet when you get to know him. I'm sure Sirius can't be so bad, or they wouldn't be friends."

Rowena shook her head in disbelief, at a loss for words. As she looked up, the black-haired boy in question entered the Great hall with his three friends, all laughing together, no doubt at some prank they'd just pulled. She saw James catch Lily's eye and the boys sauntered towards them. She was disappointed to note that the group of third years opposite them had left and there was now plenty of space for the four boys to join them. She downed the last of her pumpkin juice and rose quickly from her chair.

"Sorry Lil, that's my cue to leave." She felt Black's eyes on her as she marched swiftly out of the Great Hall.

* * *

"Alright class, today we're going to do things a little differently!" Professor Slughorn puffed with enthusiasm, "I've arranged you into pairs…"

The potions class let out a collective groan.

"So we'll have…let me see…Miss Evans with Mr Knott, Miss Carson with Mr Potter…"

Rowena held her breath as he made his way down the list.

"…And last but by no means least, Miss Thornton and Mr Black. Now if you would all pair up at a cauldron…"

'Gods someone has it in for me' Rowena thought miserably as she caught Sirius smirking at her. She took a deep breath and managed a rather forced smile at him as he joined her beside the cauldron.

"Amortentia, a powerful love potion," Sirius read aloud from their textbook, "This may come in handy," he winked at her cheekily. Rowena rolled her eyes but was horrified to feel her cheeks heat slightly, if he saw her blushing she would never live it down.

"Surely you've found yourself a date by now," Rowena asked, genuinely surprised.

"Well, I have asked someone, I'm just waiting for an answer," he said soberly, beginning to chop up roots for the cauldron.

"Who?" Rowena blurted out, then instantly regretted it. Sirius gave her a strange look as she realised her mistake. "You haven't asked anyone else? It has been over a week since you asked me" she paused briefly, "and I did give you an answer, I said no."

"I believe you agreed to think about it," he replied calmly. Rowena felt herself getting riled up.

"I said nothing of the-"

"Could you pass the ground moonstone?" he interrupted. She looked at him incredulously. He infuriated her beyond belief! They worked away in silence for some time before he again brought up the subject of the ball.

"Has anyone else asked you? Because perhaps you shouldn't turn down an offer from such a lovely gentleman as myself without a back-up plan." She gaped at him and he smirked arrogantly in return. Of course it was no surprise to him that no one else had asked her. He had ensured that all the Gryffindor boys knew he had asked her. He saw no reason to let them know she hadn't actually said yes…

"If you need a little longer to consider your options-"

"I don't need to-"she broke off mid-sentence as they both stopped to watch transfixed as their potion transformed from an inky black to a glistening mother-of-pearl, with steam rising off it in spirals. She felt much calmer all of a sudden and paused to breathe in the heady aroma from the potion. It smelled of all her favourite scents combined: trees and the outdoors, a warm spicy scent that reminded her of Christmas, butterbeer, and something else… something distinctly dog-like. Out the corner of her eye she saw Sirius watching her and briefly wondered what he could smell from the cauldron.

"Ah ladies and gentlemen we have our first finished potion!" Slughorn boomed, destroying the serenity of the moment as he pushed past tables to get a better look, "Beautiful, would you look at that! Well done, Mr Black and Miss Thornton, 10 points to Gryffindor! Excellent work!"

Rowena turned to Sirius, mouth open in surprise. They had been so busy arguing she hadn't even realised how well their potion had been coming along.

"Maybe we actually make a good team," Sirius muttered softly in her ear so that only she could hear. This time she was certain he saw her blush.


	2. Chapter 2

The following weekend was a hogsmeade visit and Rowena had reluctantly agreed to accompany Lily and the four boys. The excitement was tangible in the air of the Great Hall at breakfast, it had been 3 weeks since their last hogsmeade weekend, and it was also the last chance to buy dresses for the Yule Ball. Rowena already had her dress, the only thing she was missing was a date. She had not been asked by anyone else, and Sirius had even stopped pestering her. The thought of going alone hurt more than she would have expected, perhaps she would hide in the library with a good book instead she thought, but immediately discarded that idea; Lily would never let her get away with it. The fiery redhead would drag her there no matter if she had a date or no.

She was snapped out of her thoughts suddenly as Remus Lupin flopped down in the seat beside her. He saw her jump in surprise,

"You don't mind do you?" he asked self-consciously.

"Of course not" she replied with a slightly forced smile. She rather liked Remus, he was kinder and more mature than his three friends.

"Looking forward to Hogsmeade?" he asked in his usual friendly tone. She noticed, however, a lack of any enthusiasm from him for the day trip. He looked worn out, and quite frankly rather ill. She nodded in answer to his question, but wasn't sure he even noticed. He looked so tired she feared he may fall asleep there and then, head in his bowl of porridge. She was about to ask him if he was alright, when the familiar voice of James Potter interrupted her.

"Oy, Mooney, wakey wakey!" Potter shook him roughly on the shoulder in greeting, as Sirius and Peter plonked themselves down on the bench in front of them. "Rowena" he nodded at her as he sat down on her other side, helping himself to a large serving of bacon and eggs. She found herself boxed in by the boys, who were already laughing at some joke she'd missed.

"Will you and Lily be dragging us along dress shopping then?" James asked, smirking.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I already have a dress. I was thinking more along the lines of spending the day in the three broomsticks," she replied evenly.

"You have a dress, but do you have a date?" Sirius chipped in with a wink.

She was saved from having to reply by the arrival of the post. The owls swooped along above the table, a large grey one flying lower to deposit a letter beside Sirius' plate. Rowena noticed his face darken as he reached for the letter, staring at it a moment, seemingly undecided as to whether or not to open it. She watched out the corner of her eye as he ripped open the seal and slowly read through the letter, his expression darkening with every line. He ran his fingers through his long dark hair a couple of times, then rose abruptly from the table. James raised his eyebrow in question.

"Everything alright?" Remus inquired.

"I'm not hungry," Sirius snapped moodily.

"You're still coming to Hogsmeade?" James asked carefully.

"It appears I have little other choice," he muttered under his breath, "they're coming to visit," he added louder in false pleasantness. This explanation meant nothing to Rowena, and he said nothing else before storming from the hall. The other boys seemed to understand however, as James and Remus exchanged a worried look.

* * *

Sirius' anger had not subsided much by the time he joined the others by the main door. He managed a nod at his friends in greeting but couldn't even work up the enthusiasm to wind up Rowena on the walk down to the village. The others laughed and chatted merrily, mostly leaving him to sulk, with only the occasional concerned glance from Remus in his direction. He walked a little behind them and as the village came into sight, Remus dropped out of step with the others and turned his attention to his moody friend.

"You alright?" he asked quietly so as not to attract the attention of the others. Sirius merely shrugged in response. "Where are you meeting them?"

"Hog's head, in an hour," he replied.

"Any idea what it's about?"

"I can guess," Sirius replied, but didn't volunteer any further information. He trusted his friend, but hated to complain about the miseries of his life, when compared with what Remus had to endure every month, Sirius' family troubles were nearly enjoyable.

* * *

Neither Honeyduke's sweetshop, nor Zonko's joke shop seemed able to lift Sirius' bad mood. The group made their way towards the Three Broomsticks; Lily and James up ahead, almost oblivious now to their friends behind them, but as they approached the door, Sirius branched off and carried on down the street.

"I'll see you all later," he called behind him.

Peter also paused before entering the pub, then said "Actually, I'm going to pop back to Honeyduke's, I forgot fizzing whizbees."

"I'll come with you," Remus said amiably, leaving Rowena with James and Lily. Realising a second too late that she was going to be left as the third wheel, she announced that she too would go to Honeydukes. Lily didn't seem too worried about this, and so Rowena left as well. She was about to call on the two boys to wait up when a thought came to her. She turned instead in the opposite direction of Honeydukes, catching sight of the dark hair of Sirius Black further down the street, mostly obscured by the gaggle of over-excited third years. She walked quickly down the street, catching up but not close enough that he noticed her. She watched curiously as he paused, quickly glancing over his shoulder, before entering the Hog's Head pub. Rowena had never been inside the Hog's Head before, but had seen enough from the outside to put her off. She peered in through the window nearest the door. It was so filthy she could barely see anything, but it appeared that he had taken a seat at a table in the corner with his back to her. She waited a few moments before pulling her scarf up around her face and entering the pub as cautiously as she could manage. She ordered a butterbeer from the tall, long-haired barman, who merely raised an eyebrow at her, and settled at a table around the side from Sirius, safely out of his sight.

He was sat at the table with a man and woman who she decided from their appearance must be his mother and father. The woman, however, was looked at him with faintly disguised disgust. Could that really be his mother? Surely not she thought. She strained her ears to pick up some of the conversation; they spoke quietly but the pub was not noisy either and she could hear the woman's indignant tone.

"We didn't come all the way up here to be treated like this, show some respect!"

"Oh yes, I'm sure a second's apparition was a great hardship," Sirius countered. The woman tutted angrily but the man intervened before she could say anymore.

"Now, I'm sure you know why we're here, this Yule Ball nonsense…"

"We won't have you going with any filthy half-blood girl you know!" Sirius' mother interrupted, loud enough for Rowena to cringe, half-expecting someone to say something, but then remembering this wasn't the Three Broomsticks they were in.

"We have arranged that you will attend with Mephora Greengrass, a fine pure-blood, _slytherin_ girl, I believe she is a couple of years younger than you?" Sirius' father continued, unflustered by his wife's outburst. Sirius snorted,

"and on what planet did you think I would agree to that?"

"Sirius, we have been, I believe, very reasonable to you. Turning a blind eye towards your undesirable choice of friends, however I think now is the time you learn your place…"

"You will do as you are told!" His mother said, clearly riled.

"And what if I don't?"

"Then you won't come back!"

"Good, I'd rather never see either of you, your awful house or your disgusting elf ever again," Sirius jamp up, his chair clattering to the floor, and spun around. Rowena had nowhere to hide, and he froze momentarily as she met his eyes, wide in shock, then narrowed in a mixture of hurt and anger, before he bolted from the pub. She ran after him, registering briefly the surprise on the faces of his parents.

"Sirius," she called after him, "please wait, I can explain," She caught up with him, grabbing his wrist from behind so that he spun around to face her. His face was contorted with pain and anger. "I didn't mean to…"

"You just happened to be in that pub, did you? Gone in for a nice quiet drink, had you? Of course, you weren't there to eavesdrop on a private conversation!" he growled

"Sirius, I'm sorry," she said quietly, "I know, there's no excuse, I just…I was worried about you so I…" His face softened and she saw all the fight go out of him.

"It doesn't matter, just forget it," he muttered, his gaze dropping to the pavement. She noticed that she was still holding tightly to his wrist, and she slackened her grip then, moving her hand to hold onto his gently.

"Are you okay?" she asked carefully, acutely aware that they were beginning to attract attention from the students milling around. "Why don't we go somewhere quieter?"

He nodded in agreement and they pushed through the crowd back towards Hogwarts, settling by a tree near to the gates of the grounds. Sirius picked at the frosty grass moodily.

"So those were you parents?" Rowena inquired cautiously.

"Yep," was the short reply.

"Did you mean what you said about not going back?" There was a long pause, and she thought he wasn't going to reply.

"I've been thinking about it for a while…they'd be glad to see the back of me" he added bitterly, "but it's just that I don't want to leave Regs you know?"  
"Your brother?"

"Yeah, Regulus" Sirius clarified. "He's much less of a disappointment than I am of course, a Slytherin, he'll marry a pure-blood and our parents will be proud of him…" Sirius paused, "but he's not so bad." Rowena could tell that he cared a lot about his brother, despite his attempt at nonchalance. She knelt down on the grass beside him.

"Where will you go, if you don't go back?" She asked. Sirius shrugged.

"Don't know, James's maybe, his parents are always good to me."

"Would they let you move in though?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe, it would only be summer. I can stay at Hogwarts for the other holidays, I usually do anyway, and then in a couple of years I can get my own place…" She noticed for the first time since breakfast the usual gleam in his eyes return as he thought about the future. "My own place, somewhere small, cosy, but cheery, you know? Of course it'd be cheery without my mother there," he grinned. She laughed lightly, shaking her head in amusement. They said in amiable silence for a few minutes before Sirius turned the conversation back to the usual topic.

"So…the Yule ball…"

Rowena groaned.

"Really Black? We were having a nice time and now here we go again!" She exclaimed. Her tone was brash but he could see the amusement in her eyes.

"Well you know, I'm quite in demand now so if you want to go with me, you better say so quickly,"

She rolled her eyes.

"And by in demand you mean Mephora?" she chuckled as he grimaced.

"Yeah…I mean you'd actually be doing me a pretty big favour" he laughed.

"Hmm, well I might not care for you much, but I don't think I'd even wish a date with her on my worst enemy" she teased.

"She is pretty scary, and also probably my third cousin or so, you know they've just about run out of pure-blood families to choose from, so we're all inbred" he joked

"That explains so much…" Sirius gasped in offence, and they fell about laughing again. A few moments later Rowena rose reluctantly to her feet.

"We probably should head back up to the castle."

Sirius nodded, still smiling. Rowena held her hand out to pull him up as he stood, and he held her hand a moment longer than necessary. As they started the leisurely stroll up to the castle, Rowena was waging a war inside her head. Finally as they approached the entrance hall, her resolve gave in and she turned to face her companion.

"Fine, I will save you from Mephora," she said. Sirius raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You mean you'll go to the Yule Ball with me?"

"Yes. As a friend, of course."

"Naturally," he shrugged, "Luckily for you, I'm a ridiculously handsome friend." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't make me change my mind, Black" she warned. He raised his hands in surrender.

"Sorry!" He paused, "you know it's true though…"

She sighed, shaking her head, but she was smiling. So was he.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hair up, or down?"

"Either, you look great" Lily replied distractedly, she was fighting her own hair battle. Rowena turned back and forth, assessing herself in the full length mirror from all angles. Her long black hair sat in waves to just below her shoulders, and as usual she wore little makeup but with heavily lined eyelids to accentuate her hazel eyes. She stared at her reflection critically; she was much more at home in jeans than dresses, especially ones so long she could barely walk in them. Lily turned her attention to her best friend,

"Stop fussing, you look amazing! Sirius won't be able to keep his hands off you," she winked cheekily. Rowena failed to stop the blush creeping up her face,

"Shut it. We are going together strictly as _friends."_

"Oh yeah, because you were such good friends a week ago," Lily laughed.

"I felt sorry for him, if you must know," Rowena said, her defences rising.

"Of course you did," Lily replied sarcastically. Rowena realised this was one argument she wasn't going to win and instead focussed her attention to applying a final layer of mascara to her eyelashes, ignoring Lily's smirk.

"Okay, you ready?" Lily asked cheerfully. She looked stunning in a gold satin dress, her red hair up in a loose bun and her green eyes bright with excitement. Rowena shrugged,

"I guess so." She didn't feel ready. She felt a bit sick if she was honest. Taking one last critical look at her floor length scarlet gown in the mirror, she plastered on her best enthusiastic smile for her friend and they headed down the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. The common room was buzzing with excitement and the boys were already waiting for them there, dressed in smart black dress robes.

"Finally, I thought we were going to have to send out a search party," James teased as he kissed Lily on the cheek in greeting.

* * *

Sirius felt his throat constrict as he saw his date descend the stairs into the common room. She was beautiful, dressed in a floor-length scarlet dress that accentuated her figure perfectly. Her dark hair tossed effortlessly over her shoulder. Up until that point he hadn't been entirely sure she wouldn't back out, but as she approached him, her face broke into a tentative smile. She looked him up and down, amused.

"You actually brush up pretty well," she teased.

"You don't look too bad yourself," he countered offering her his arm. She shook her head in amusement as she slid her arm in his.

"This portrait-hole is not made for women in dresses," Lily cursed as she struggled through while James stood by unhelpfully laughing.

* * *

Rowena gasped as they entered the Great Hall, and Sirius watched her out of the corner of his eye, as wonder and delight spread over her beautiful features. The cavernous room was decorated like a winter wonderland; the stars in the enchanted roof shone twice as brightly and it appeared as though snow was falling, although it never reached the floor. There were several giant Christmas trees, glittering with snow on their branches and candles flickering among the leaves. The usual flagstones were replaced by a silvery-glass dance floor, and a few couples were already waltzing around the hall.

"This is incredible," Rowena murmured softly, looking up at him. Sirius resisted the urge to push a loose strand of hair from her face, as he realised they were still standing right in the entrance. He led her towards a table at the side of the room, where Remus, Peter and their dates, a pair of Hufflepuff girls from the year below, were sitting.

"Yes, it is spectacular. It must be what it looks like when hell freezes over" Sirius added wryly.

"What do you mean?" Rowena's brow furrowed, perplexed. He smirked.

"That's what you said, that hell would freeze over before you'd agree to go with me…this must be it". She rolled her eyes and sighed, a smile playing on her lips.

"So I have a tendency to be a little harsh at times…"

"Harsh? Surely you mean cold and inaccessible?" He laughed, "You should try not pushing people away all the time." Suddenly, all the amusement in her eyes was gone, replaced by anger.

"That's too far," she said, walking away from him. He grabbed her arm to stop her, realising too late that his words had been hurtful.

"Hey, I didn't mean that," he paused, noting Remus' concerned look, "Dance with me?" he asked quickly, nudging her in the direction of the dancefloor. He thought for a moment that she might slap him, but then, desperate not to cause a scene, she reluctantly followed him to the edge of the dancefloor. His heart was pounding in his chest as he was aware that he had only one chance to make this right.

"You know, I was just beginning to think that maybe you're actually alright. Not a completely obnoxious prat that is." She hissed, as they stepped into an awkward, stilted sort of waltz, too distracted to pay any attention to timing or footwork.

"I didn't mean it, I was joking. Bad joke," he paused, "I say stupid things I don't mean when I'm nervous" he said quietly.

"You are so arrogant! You drive me crazy!" Rowena protested angrily.

"Yeah, well you're so stubborn!" he retorted.

Rowena's eyes flashed, and he briefly thought that this was it, she was going to leave and never speak to him again. Then to his surprise, she started to laugh.

She laughed until tears were running down her face, "God, we're like children! Listen to us bickering." He laughed too. She sobered and looked a little embarrassed, "sorry I think I overreacted a bit".

"I was really rude."

"Yeah you were," she paused looking angry again briefly, "But then I've been rude to you for years. I reckon I probably deserved it," she conceded.

Sirius raised his eyebrows in surprise,

"Are you calling a truce?" he asked. She smiled as he held out his hand.

"Yeah, friends." She said shaking his hand.

"Friends," he smiled, "now after all that I could do with a drink, what about you?"

"Pumpkin juice?" she laughed, indicating her head in the direction of Professor Flitwick who was serving goblets of the juice from a giant sliver pumpkin.

"Maybe something a little stronger," he replied quietly, reaching inside his robes to show her a quick glimpse of the bottle of fire whiskey he was hiding.

"Where did you get that?" she inquired, but he just gave her a wink and said nothing.

"Why don't we get out of here for a bit?" he asked. Rowena looked over to where Lily and James now sat with Remus and Peter. They seemed to have lost interest in Rowena and Sirius' drama so she figured they would be able to sneak out without attracting too much attention.

* * *

The corridors were empty as everyone was in the Great Hall enjoying the party. They crept quietly along the corridor, keeping an eye out for anyone. Sirius was holding her hand, leading the way, and then he stopped at an alcove opposite the door to the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom. She expected him to try the door, but instead he sat himself down on the window ledge in the alcove, and indicated for her to join him. She settled on the ledge and let out a sigh of relief as she kicked off her high heels. Sirius smirked but said nothing, handing her the bottle of fire whiskey after taking a swig himself. She winced slightly as the burning sensation hit the back of her throat. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Sirius rather ceremoniously cleared his throat,

"Oh look, mistletoe," he pointed to the top of the alcove above them. Rowena rolled her eyes.

"You are so sly," she laughed.

"You're not suggesting I planned this, are you?" he challenged.

"And what if I am?" she raised an eyebrow. He paused.

"Then I suppose you'd be right" he replied softly, lightly stroking the hair out of her face. She met his eyes, panic and confusion consuming her in the brief moment before his lips touched hers, and then to her surprise she felt calm and…content. All her previous anger at him had gone. The truth was they weren't really so different.

* * *

 **END OF PART 1**


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